Bangalore Cityscapes

[Hindustani]

Jai....again. Great images.

Wow, great pics of Bangalore. But doesn't Bangalore kinda look like Chennai. Very few genuine highrises, the temples, the people and stuff. But Bangalore looks cool, and looks like it is less polluted than Chennai.Is Bangalore going to get that 33km metro that they were planning to build?

[kshatriya]

wow nice!!

[theguy]

Bangalore is simply awesome....i mean mg road n brigades road have to be experienced as pictures dont do justice to them....a very classy city and great pictures there jai and were they taken by u?

[UnitedPakistan]

Same as any other Pakistani city, meaning that no one is ahead or behind.

[Ashok]

nice city, love the nice scence, the city seems so alive in the nite.

[Ashok]

"Namma Ooru Bengaluru" is this tamil, just asking, cause i know alot of south indain languages sounds similar, n i understand what thats says, but i thought Bangalore was Kanartic or something

[kronik]

Great pics Jai.

definitaly less chaotic than other cities in the country.

and the Ramohalli Banyan: does the movie Sholay with Jai (what a coincidence) and Veeru in their Bullet ring a bell?

[Suncity]

Originally Posted by ILOVEMTL

"Namma Ooru Bengaluru" is this tamil, just asking, cause i know alot of south indain languages sounds similar, n i understand what thats says, but i thought Bangalore was Kanartic or something

Namma = our??
Ooru = city (Kannada)
Bengaluru = Bangalore (Kannada)

[theguy]

namma is tamil and it means our

[theguy]

nice pic of bangalore that i found on the net

[theguy]

the above pic is of mg road

[Suncity]

Having lots of fun!!!

[Suncity]

It is claimed to be the world's first eight-storeyed arch-shaped building . Jal Bhavan, Bangalore, which houses the offices of the Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board, is a huge wave on the city's Bannerghatta Road.

Sarkari but SMART



Dingy and badly kept. If you think that just about sums up every government building, it's time you visited Jal Bhavan.

IT'S NOT just coffee bars and showrooms that have gone designer. Bangalore now has a designer government building! And lest you hasten to think that anything designer must be per force a quixotic waste of taxpayers' money, let us assure you that Jal Bhavan is a commendable example of affordable architectural aesthetics.

Firstly, let's get over the firsts to the credit of this rainbow-inspired building on Bannergatta Road. It is said to be the first eight-floor, arched building in the world. Built at a cost of Rs. 8.3 crore on a 22,000 sq. ft. site, this is the first State Government-owned designer building. And in spite of, or because of, using new building techniques such as raft foundation, the building was completed in a record 11 months. The quick work meant no cost escalation, and the natural materials used guarantee minimal maintenance costs.

"We were very focussed. From planning, execution, costing to completion of the project, Idea Centre did everything to ensure that Jal Bhavan would set a new trend in architectural design that is also cost effective," says Architect Anil Bhaskaran, MD of Initiative for Design Excellence in Architecture (IDEA).

As one enters through a neat pergola, the sound of gurgling water welcomes one to Jal Bhavan, the corporate office of the Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board. The entrance is inviting, and on both sides of the lobby are the ground floor offices occupied by different firms. The interiors done by IDEA use motifs of the elements to put visitors at ease. The laser-cut and inlaid pieces of wood on the doors show the sun and its rays, and the same motifs are repeated elsewhere. A yin-yang design on the polished floor sets the tone for a building that is aesthetic and practical.

We take the stairs. No pan-stained walls, no graffiti, no foul smell of cigarette smoke. "We insisted that the building should have a dedicated housekeeping team, and the Government agreed," explains Mr. Bhaskaran. "So meticulous are the housekeeping staff that no one feels like messing the atmosphere. Our behaviour is guided to a large extent by the atmosphere we work in, and at IDEA, we believe in creating harmonious living spaces."

The building has a wonderful view of the blue sky, lots of air — and no hum of air-conditioning. "There is no need for air-conditioning even in a building of this size, if there is enough cross ventilation and a minimum use of glass," says the architect.

He says that he was driven by poetry and fantasy when he sat down with his team to visualise Jal Bhavan. "We believe in humanising architecture by promoting environmental-friendly concepts such as power generation through solar energy, and rain water harvesting. Some basic tenets of Vastu make perfect sense. For instance, an east facing building can make the most of the beneficial morning sun. The north is usually the coolest, and therefore, we have an open canteen on the ground floor under a pergola. The small windows on the West keep out the sun, while serving as good ventilation spaces," explains Mr. Bhaskaran, whose other projects include a building for Infosys and the Ramana Maharshi Spiritual Centre.

So impressed was Chief Minister S.M. Krishna with the energy in Jal Bhavan that he requested for a room there. Now, whenever the files mount too high, he just takes off for the solitude of Jal Bhavan, sits at his sile-stone table, and clears the pending work. "Design is an important factor for the smooth functioning of everything. It's time people realised the value of professionally-designed objects — whether they are door knobs or fans or buildings," Mr. Bhaskaran says.

Those living in glass houses...

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/...2400190400.htm

In a city where architects are inspired by the glass and granite buildings of the West, Anil Bhaskaran is an antithesis of the trend. "I see no point in spending money on expensive glass boxes and offsetting the heat generated by them using air-conditioners and then running up huge energy bills," he says.

He is one architect who believes in the minimal use of glass. "We don't have to blindly follow the West. Most of us forget that we live in India, which is a blessed land. We can afford to have an open-to-sky kind of architecture." He refers to the old-world practicality of verandahs, pandals and courtyards. Indians have always had the right mix of internal and external spaces in their buildings, he says. But, unfortunately, use of glass-granite has become the soul of the IT sector today, he adds.

If this trend continues, Bhaskaran fears that Bangalore will go the Mumbai way. "Thirty years from now you'll have brown buildings because the buildings would have started deteriorating, apartments would have changed hands, and there will be no accountability or responsibility for maintenance."

In an effort to improve the cityscape of Bangalore, he started Idea (Initiative for Design Excellence in Architecture) Centre last year. "Our core strengths are creation of special and designer buildings with emphasis on cost-effective, environment-friendly structures," he says. He plans to make the centre a research and development hub for architects across the country.

Bhaskaran and his 15-member team also believe in generating a concept for the customer to suit his or her personality. They also factor in the surroundings. Infosys Mangala is one such project that gives credence to this concept. The building, located in Mangalore, is influenced by the step farming technique practised in coastal Karnataka.

Bhaskaran strongly believes that Nature offers an amazing variety of designs to copy from, a palette of colours to choose from and an inspiring range of shapes and forms. "I always tell my interns to use their hands and not their set squares when they design a building, and this will definitely create an effect," he says. Nature is beyond prediction so let your designs be that way, is his lesson for newcomers in the profession.

"Are there any straight lines in Nature?" he asks. Then you realise how the world's first eight-storeyed arch-shaped building came up in Bangalore. Jal Bhavan, which houses the offices of the Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board, is a huge wave on the city's Bannerghatta Road.

"This building is a big achievement for me, one because in the government sector this was one of the first innovative designs and, two, it was built in a record time of 11 months," he says. Before he started work on the Ramana Maharshi Spiritual Centre in Bangalore, Bhaskaran says he did quite a bit of reading on the spiritual guru. He discovered that the Maharshi focussed on two things: his love for the universe and his belief in minimalism. He also realised that the Maharshi showed his love for the universe through the concept of the Panchaboothas, or the five elements: jal (water), vaayu (air), prithvi (earth), aakash (sky) and agni (fire).

This Bangalore-based architect was also inspired by the fact that the Maharshi practised semiotics or the science of symbolism. Therefore, certain areas of the ashram in Bangalore are influenced by this science. For instance, the open reception area represents vaayu, the pool represents the jal, the open air theatre the aakash, and so on. Then, of course, all the building materials are eco-friendly and energy saving. "You can be a successful designer and still make a commercial success of your designs," he says. For instance, when he designed an apartment building recently, he gave it a pandal-like structure. This is one place in the apartment building where residents can walk around or cool off on a hot day. "While I had another intention (to reduce heat inside the building), the builder and the apartment owners see the pandal as a new and unique style and now the builder wants this in all his other projects," says Bhaskaran. He recommends the use of verandahs because they cut down heat in buildings by 50 per cent. "We have to make buildings more climatically conducive to this country," he adds.

[Jai]

Interesting

What concert is this?

[Suncity]

Originally Posted by Jai

Interesting

What concert is this?

Dunno. But they organize many events.

[nova]

Sarkari but smart.. that's new...

wow nice, there is a building like this in thailand

[Jai]

Namma Ooru Bengaluru -- "our Shining Bangalore":
Part 3 of the photo-thread.

Bangalore Photo-Thread One

Bangalore Photo-Thread Two



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More Bangalore Aerials











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Bangalore Roads

Commercial Road



Brigade Road








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More Bangalore Temples




Dharmaraja Mandir



ISKON Ramakrishna Mandir





Jumma Masjid




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Infosys Campus Bangalore











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Bangalore Malls

Koramangala Mall



Bangalore Central One Mall

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Continued Below

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[Jai]

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Continued From Above

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More Bangalore Buildings

I-Flex Headquarters (seen here under construction)



Bangalore Industrial Museum



International Technology Park (ITPL)





Kanteerva Stadium



Park Hotel



Spheric Building



Sai Baba Medical University and Hospital (seen here under construction)



Public Utility Building






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Vidhana Soudha (Karnataka State Legislature)

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Hope you liked

-Jai